Steve Young Part 47

"R-r-r-r-ra!" growled Skene, leaping upward so as to place his paws on Steve's shoulders; and then he barked loudly as he gazed at the ice-floe on their left.

"Keep that dog quiet, Steve," said the captain; "he'll scare the walrus."

Andrew's head went down with his chin upon his breast, and he gave Steve an exasperating, sly look as the lad tried to quiet the dog.

"Do you hear? Keep him quiet! We ought not to have brought him."

"She winna skear ta walrus," whispered Andrew, "for there are nane."

"The dog sees something yonder," said Johannes. "Yes, there! He sees a bear close up in that break in the ice."

"A bear!" cried the captain excitedly. "Well done, dog! We should have pa.s.sed it."

The rifles were seized, and their eyes shaded to catch a glimpse of the white-furred animal hiding in one of the crevices of the ice cliff until the boat had pa.s.sed. But the glitter of the snow made the task difficult till they were much nearer, and then it was seen to be lying at full length just clear of the water, and with its head well up, apparently enjoying the warm suns.h.i.+ne and seizing a favourable opportunity for a good sleep.

Rifles were held ready for a shot as the men rowed in till they were within a hundred yards, without the bear, which was a monster, taking the slightest notice of the boat, and then the captain said:

"Cease rowing the moment I hold up my hand. Johannes, Jakobsen, have your spears ready; the brute may swim off and attack the boat when it is wounded."

"We are quite ready, sir," said the Norwegian in a whisper; and he and his companion gently raised the heads of their spears from where the weapons were lying along the thwarts.

"Good. Now, Steve, we'll get in another fifty yards if we can, and then rest on our oars. You shall have the first shot. Do you know where to aim?"

"About six inches behind his eye, sir."

"Nonsense, boy!" cried the captain sharply. "Fire right at the brute's shoulder, sending the bullet through the shoulder-blade to the heart."

"Yes, sir," said Steve; and he turned to Johannes. "You told me to shoot six inches behind the eye," he whispered.

"At a walrus, sir; not at a bear."

By this time they were about fifty yards away from the bear, which had not stirred. The captain raised his hand, and the men ceased dipping their oars, the boat gliding forward a short distance, and then coming to a stand.

"Now, Steve! Quick!"

"I--I don't care to fire," whispered the lad.

"Bah! What do you mean?"

"The bear's asleep, and it seems so cowardly."

"I'm not so particular about a dangerous beast," said the doctor; and, kneeling in the stem of the boat, he rested his elbows on the gunwale, took a long aim, and fired, the bullet striking the bear's shoulder with a dull thud.

"Well done! splendid shot!" cried the captain. "Right to the heart.

The brute hardly moved."

But, all the same, as the smoke rose he stood ready to send another shot at the monster if it should prove only to be stunned.

"Here, doctor," he said, "give him the other barrel, so as to make sure.

I don't want any one to be clawed."

The doctor, nothing loth, took aim again, and fired his second cartridge, this bullet also taking effect; but the bear did not move.

"Dead enough," said the captain. "Give way, my lads."

The men pulled, and the boat was rowed right up to a tiny valley in the ice, which just gave them room to land and group round the monstrous bear, the gentlemen with their guns ready for a shot, the two Norwegians with their spears over their shoulders.

The doctor's eyes sparkled with delight, for this bear also was a magnificent specimen, with enormously long, fine hair, decidedly whiter than the coat of the brute they had destroyed at Jan Mayen.

"I did not know that you were such a shot, Hands...o...b..," said the captain.

"Oh, a mere accident," said the doctor modestly. "Wasn't it a pity you let your chance go, Steve?"

"Oh, I don't mind," said the lad, planting his foot on the bear's shoulder, and stooping to look for the wound. Then he started, and glanced at Johannes, who, like Jakobsen, stood leaning on his spear.

He read confirmation in the man's quiet eyes, and he turned round excitedly to his companions.

"Why, the bear's dead!" he cried.

"Of course it is," said the captain, laughing. "We should not be standing here if it were not."

"But I mean dead before Mr Hands...o...b.. fired!"

"What!" cried the doctor, flus.h.i.+ng red, while the captain went down on one knee to raise a paw.

"Yes," he cried, "and frozen stiff. It must have been dead for many hours, eh, Johannes?"

"Yes, sir," said the man, kneeling down to part the fur, "many hours.

Yes, here it is! Look! in the chest. The walrus got his tusk well home."

"Eh? What?" cried the captain, as the Norseman pointed to a great gaping wound; from which the blood had been washed by the sea. The wound was in the upper part of the animal's chest, in a position where a dagger-like stroke would penetrate to the heart; and the bear had evidently swum for some distance, crawled there, and, after drawing itself up, quietly died.

"But I don't quite understand," said the captain.

"It is the walrus we saw tumble the bear off the cliff into the sea yesterday."

"What!" cried the doctor excitedly. "Then I did not kill it?"

"No," said the captain, laughing. "You cannot kill a dead thing."

"But--but--" stammered the doctor.

"You see, doctor, your profession is curing, not killing," cried the captain, laughing. "Never mind: better luck next time."

"But it is so absurd. The idea of shooting at a dead beast!"

"I'm glad I didn't, Mr Hands...o...b..!" cried Steve merrily.

"Now, look here, don't you begin to joke me, sir," said the doctor, "because I will not have it."